Assassin Outclassin': Difference between revisions

Due to [[Plot Armor]] (except in case of a [[Sacrificial Lion]]), attempts to assassinate a main character hardly ever succeed.

 

 

A character can evolve into a real 'assassin outclasser' when recurrent assassination attempts fail, which makes the character in question even more cautious, which makes the failure of more assassination attempts even more likely. But such can only happen if the majority of assassins were defeated by the target him/her/itself (and not by a bodyguard or similar), since this title demands that the target defeat - "outclass" - the assassins. The trope itself, however, is just about assassination attempts failing because of the target (like in [[Tales of the Otori]]) or some "protector" (see [[Artemis Fowl]], where it's the [[Battle Butler]]), or great amounts of attempted assassinations that failed because of the exceptional luck of the target (see ''[[The Dark Side of the Sun]]'').

Killing an Assassin Outclasser usually is a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for the assassin. It will often be a [[Rasputinian Death]], since these people are... not easy to kill.

 

 

{{deathtrope}}

 

{{examples}}

* Hilariously, the Assassin class servants, ''named Assassin'', have a terrible track record.

* In ''[[Berserk]]'', anyone who tries to kill {{spoiler|Griffith}} will die. Period.

* Reima sends a bunch of assassins after Fuga in ''[[Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin]]'' after he runs away from home. Thanks to his own ability and Riki's help, Fuga gets away relatively unscathed.

* ''[[Outlaw Star]]'' had a guy who was a specialist in assassinations for the Anten Seven. He was assigned to kill Gene while Gene was staying at a local resort. The guy disguised himself as a tourist in an effort to get close to Gene, but kept getting derailed by accidents.

* In ''[[Weiss Kreuz]]'', Farfarello holds the honor of being Weiss' only known target to completely escape death. It reaches [[Karma Houdini]] levels when you sit back and realize he's murdered two teenage girls (both of whom were love interests for main characters), his own mother, tortured countless religious men, and actually has the happiest ending in the series: he settles down with the woman he loves and only ever cameos again.

* In ''[[One Piece]]'', the main characters manages to defeat two pairs of [[Murder, Inc.|Baroque Works]] assassins, and eventually defeat their leader, Sir Crocodile, and destroy the whole syndicate.

** Ace used to try and murder Whitebeard whenever he saw the chance. Judging from the flashback examples, Ace never managed to cut even a hair on his head.

 

== Comic Books ==

* This is the entire idea behind the [[Human Target]]. Christopher Chance impersonates people who live dangerous lives, and takes on whatever comes after him until they're safe.

 

 

== Film ==

* ''[[The Pink Panther]] Strikes Again'' is all over this. Chief Inspector Dreyfus has gone insane and sent assassins from around the world to kill Clouseau. But they've also been told to assassinate each other because each country wants to have the privilege of killing Clouseau. Meanwhile Clouseau bumblingly foils each try, not even knowing about the assassination attempts most of the time.

* In ''Angel's Dance,'' a random woman is targeted for assassination simply as target practice for a hitman-in-training by his mentor. The woman survives the first attack and quickly adapts herself to avoiding and turning the tables on her would-be killer.

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[Tales of the Otori]]'': Takeo, [[Justified]] by him being a trained (and very talented) assassin himself.

** Also, Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully, who by virtue of his position is a prime target for [[Klingon Promotion]]. He rarely kills attempted assassins, but always at least breaks a limb. Much like Vetinari and Vimes, the other wizards realized it was simply too much trouble to try and kill him and have since largely given up the "Pointy Shoes" tradition.

* In ''[[The Tough Guide to Fantasyland]]'', the entry on assassins is all about this trope. It indicates that at some point the protagonist will get attacked by a supposedly dangerously skilled assassin and defeat/kill them, and the assassin will go their death complaining that the protagonist wasn't playing according to the "rules".

* In [[Amanda Downum]]'s ''[[The Bone Palace]]'', Savedra, the Crown Prince's transsexual mistress, repeatedly dispatches assassins sent to kill her, the Prince, or for that matter his wife. Not that either of them is that defenseless either, especially the rather Amazonian warrior Princess.

* Eugenides from [[The Queen's Thief]] series is able to take on multiple assassins [[Incredibly Lame Pun|singlehandedly]] and win. Turns out that the {{spoiler|hook he has instead of a hand is actually razor sharp}}. Also, he was trained to be a soldier, though he doesn't look like it. And he's a master of the [[Barehanded Blade Block]]. Also, he has the literal protection of a god.

 

* Done in an episode of ''[[Lois and Clark]]'', where an alien assassin is trying to kill Superman. Upon failing, he has an immediate [[Eye Lights Out]] death - failure is unacceptable in his culture.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* This is what the board game ''Kill Dr. Lucky'' is all about.

 

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[Clonk]]'' a player-made scenario called Faffnir is an assassination mission. According to the guards, your character is nowhere near the first person they've had to deal with.

* Sissel's first few jobs in ''[[Ghost Trick]]'' are to protect Lynne and her associates from blue-skinned assassins. In some instances they actually succeed, but Sissel goes back and changes events to thwart them.

* Kaguya from ''[[Touhou]]'' is always doing this to Mokou and vice-versa. Both are immortals.

* Zevran in ''[[Dragon Age]]'' will try to assassinate the PC. Obviously you have to survive the battle to continue the game. Afterward, you have the choice to recruit or kill him. Recruiting him means you'll face more assassins a little later in the game. If you get his approval high enough, he'll confess that he only went for a head on assault because he [[Death Seeker|wanted you to kill him]]. Otherwise, he would have tried a sneakier method.

** Which can be funny moments in there own [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMlu7ZleclI 18 seconds into this shogun 2 clip.]

* In ''[[Cave Story]]'', [[Recurring Boss|B]][[Affably Evil|a]][[Punch Clock Villain|l]][[Our Monsters Are Weird|r]][[Large Ham|o]][[Breather Boss|g]] clumsily tries to ambush the hero ''about five times'' and always hilariously fails, until he finally [[Defeat Means Friendship|realizes that fighting him has no use]].

* Parodied in ''[[Bahamut Lagoon]]'': when you recruit a pair of ninjas into your army, they also give you a free assassination as a bonus. You can choose the target to be either the [[Rebellious Princess]], a [[Mighty Glacier]] or a [[Red Shirt]]. No prizes for guessing which target is the only one they actually succeed in killing.

* ''[[Video Game/Hitman|Hitman]]: Blood Money'' features a mission where the player character 47 must locate three other assassins before they can kill their target.

* In ''[[Tropico]] 3'' and ''4'', one possible random event is an assassin being sent after El Presidente; the player can choose to hide in their mansion for several months until the assassin gets bored and leaves, bribe the assassin to leave, attempt to arrest the assassin with the [[Secret Police]], or hire an even better assassin to assassinate the assassin before he can assassinate you.

* [[Ace Attorney]] Investigations 2 plays with this trope. The first case features an assassination attempt on a foreign presedent, which fails. {{spoiler|But it turns out to have all been staged. The president was trying to Invoke this trope in a desperate attempt to salvage his declining popularity.}}

== Web Comics ==

* The Hegemonic Brute of the Alpha session in ''[[Homestuck]]'' was sent to kill Dirk Strider but ends up getting [[Curb Stomp Battle|slain by his target a few panels after his appearance.]]

 

== Western Animation ==

* Brock Samson in ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' season 3 finale manages to defeat three assassins sent after him.

* In ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', an assassin, Curare, is sent after Commissioner Barbara Gordon's husband, DA Sam Young. When she fails, the society she's a member of begins [[Contract on the Hitman|hunting her down for her failure]]. Thinking proactively, she in turn begins hunting down and eliminating them.

 

== Real Life ==

* There were over 40 attempts on [[Adolf Hitler]]'s life, mostly by his subordinates.

* Zog I, Skanderbeg III of the Albanians has survived over 55 assassination attempts. He also carried a personal sidearm (a tradition carried on by his son Crown Prince Leka), and is said to have exchanged gunfire with potential assassins on at least one occassion.

*** He also happens to hate Call of Duty: Black Ops, which just happens to start with a mission where you shoot him in the head. {{spoiler|Of course, this is a double.}}

* Richard Lawrence tried to assassinate [[Andrew Jackson]] with a pair of pistols. Unfortunately for him, both of them misfired, and Jackson subsequently gave him [[Cane Fu|a serious beating with his cane.]]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Death Tropes]]

[[Category:Index Failure]]